Erick Aybar came off the bench in the ninth inning on Thursday night at Marlins Park and drove home Nelson Cruz with a pinch-hit single off Craig Kimbrel, sending the D.R. on to a 3-1 victory over Team USA.

Veteran 1B Lee declines Yankees' offer

The Yankees will have to look elsewhere to fill the hole left at first base by the injured Mark Teixeira. As reported by Yahoo's Tim Brown, Derrek Lee declined the Bombers' offer to suit up for the 2013 season.

Guthrie solid, relievers strong in Royals' win vs. Tribe

Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie logged four solid innings and Adam Moore collected three hits, helping pave the way for a 5-3 Cactus League victory over the Indians on Thursday afternoon at Goodyear Ballpark.

McAllister labors, Bauer uneven in loss to Royals

The Indians insist that the race for the fifth spot in their rotation remains wide open with less than three weeks left until Opening Day. That means that pitching prospect Trevor Bauer is still very much in the mix. Bauer worked the final four innings …

Trout hits first homer as Angels rout White Sox

Mike Trout hit a leadoff homer for his first of the spring -- and almost got another -- and Jason Vargas allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings as the Angels beat the White Sox, 12-4, at Tempe Diablo Stadium on Thursday.

Bad news for the Team USA as it readies for first pitch against the Dominican Republic in second-round World Baseball Classic action: David Wright - the man everybody's calling "Captain America" these days - isn't in the starting lineup. Uh-oh. #WBCTo

Rusin dominates again in Cactus League play

Left-hander Chris Rusin continued his hot streak in Spring Training with a five-inning scoreless outing, lowering his spring ERA to 0.69 in the Cubs' 8-1 victory on Thursday. Catcher Welington Castillo hit a two-run triple in the first inning.

Beast Mode initiated: Morse slugs two homers

Michael Morse went 3-for-3 with two homers, a double and five RBIs against the Reds on Thursday. Joe Saunders struggled on the mound, allowing seven runs, five earned, in 3 2/3 innings. The Mariners won the game, 8-7.

Yes, the Houston Astros have the smallest payroll in baseball. Yes, A-Rod will make more than their entire team this season. Yes, they're likely to lose the most games in 2013 (again). And no, owner Jim Crane, doesn't plan on ponying up any more cash to…

Bacon-shell taco offered at West Michigan Whitecaps minor league ballgames

How hard do you like your arteries? Well, fans of the West Michigan Whitecaps might be able to answer that question in person this summer by attending a ballgame at Fifth Third Ballpark, where a specialty concession stand will be selling a taco made wit…

It makes sense, if you rationalize it, Pete Rose doing a furniture commercial for greater Cincinnati TV. Even these days, regardless of the salaries some athletes make, you'll see a lot of players doing cheap-looking commercials for, say, an auto dealer…

Let's do this line by line: For the 97th straight year, the Chicago Cubs will attempt baseball this season in Wrigley Field. It'll actually be the 98th year. You know what? We're done here. Fuck this column. [ESPN.com]

Laynce Nix blames Nike shoes for leg injuries

Laynce Nix of the Philadelphia Phillies did some investigating and has concluded that baseball cleats were the root cause of leg injuries plaguing him the past two seasons. He slugged a composite .461 from 2009-2011, but in '11 Nix started having Achill…

Big League Stew’s All-Beard Team: Honoring baseball’s best beards

Thanks to guys like Brian Wilson, Josh Reddick and Jayson Werth, beards in baseball are getting more attention than they have in a long time. It's like baseball's facial-hair renaissance. With Reddick engaged in a beard battle with a WWE star, Jayson We…

Inside the visit: Mound conversations vary widely

Conversations between skippers or pitching coaches and their players seem to be a source of curiosity for the fans to this day: What the heck do managers and coaches say when they run out to the mound to talk to the pitcher?

The description on YouTube for "Space Jays" says it was inspired by the "He Man" and "Transformers" cartoons of 25 years ago. That's about right. I can't imagine you'll have any more fun this morning than by playing the fir…

Young GMs, senior advisors find pairings beneficial

The two sides of this very real baseball divide between young general managers and senior advisors have been over-simplified to the point of caricature. The reality is that, while the generations still don't always see eye-to-eye on everything, it seems…

We’re less than three weeks away from opening day and the Cincinnati Reds still have no idea whether they're going through with moving Aroldis Chapman into the starting rotation or keeping him in the closer's role. A little alarming? Maybe? Not that weâ

It has been a strange and discomforting spring for Derek Jeter, one of a group of veteran Yankees strolling the grounds of Steinbrenner Field bearing a “precious goods, handle with care” sign at the same time he’s been held up as the symbol of what

Dominican Republic Rallies Past USA To Advance

The Dominican Republic scores two runs in the ninth to top the United States 3-1 and advance to the WBC semifinals.

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Manuel Wants To Manage Phillies Beyond 2013

Mar 14

Charlie Manuel doesn't want to retire after season.

Sports Columnists

Don Banks: No Peyton this time, but quarterback market is cranking to life

Mar 14

Compared to last year's headline-fest in both the first round of the draft and free agency (see Peyton-palooza), it has been a relatively sleepy NFL offseason for quarterback movement. Especially since ex-49ers starter Alex Smith found his new work addr…